Mount Auburn Geological Letterbox LbNA #56485 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Nov 13, 2010 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Cambridge |
| County: | Middlesex |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | Mount Auburn  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | Not yet found! |
| Last found: | N/A |
| Last edited: | Nov 13, 2010 |
Let the legacy of the Pleistocene Epoch at Mount Auburn Cemetery guide you to on your quest to find a “founding father” of both glacial theory and the modern American scientific tradition.
Start your journey on Central Avenue at the Egyptian Revival Entrance Gatehouse. Walk forward until you come upon a “Ridge” on your left and turn onto it.
As you walk along this esker, and throughout the cemetery, try to find monuments made of Tennessee Marble- they often contain tiny fossils of prehistoric ocean animals and plant life.
When you come to the footbridge, stop and look down to your right at Auburn Lake- 1 of 3 kettle ponds found at the Cemetery. Cross the bridge and go to the end of the path. Stay to the right of the fork and turn right on Larch Avenue.
Walk a while until you get to Chestnut Avenue and turn left- you are now entering the land of the “Seven Hills”. You will come upon a giant Weeping Beech tree and further ahead is a hitching post that looks like a horse’s head- turn right onto the path in between these two points.
As you journey on this path, to your right is Temple Hill, to your left is Juniper Hill and even further down on your right is the third, Cedar Hill.
Eventually, you will come to a marble cross on the ground, turn left when you do. Halfway down this path on your left is a kame- this one is named for the “Crimson” owner of the lot at the top. Keep walking and when you come to the stone “house” of Henry Farnham turn right.
After a few paces, turn left and descend down a wooded path. At the log bench, look down into the valley on your right until you see a clearing with a body of water in it. This is Consecration Dell. It is a vernal pool and another kettle pond.
Continue until the path ends at a paved road called Walnut Avenue. Before you cross this road and turn left, look to your right and you’ll see Laurel Hill- hill number 5.
You’re almost there! Continue walking until you come to Bellwort Path and turn right. Keep walking down the path beyond where it turns to grass. When it becomes paved again, stop and turn right. You are looking for the large boulder next to a brownstone cross. However, to find the box, you need to look for the boulder across from here that has a shrub next to it.
Can you find the third kettle pond and hills six and seven?
Glossary
Esker: A long, snaking bar of sand and gravel, formed in a channel of melt water beneath a glacier
Ice Age: Prolonged period of cold during which masses of continental ice buildup and flow across large portions of the earth. There have been numerous ice ages and we are actually in a warm spell that is part of a current ice age.
Kame: A small but rather steep hill of layered glacial sediment.
Kettle Pond (or Kettle Hole): A bowl-shaped depression in an area of glacial deposits, left behind when a lump of buried ice melts.
Pleistocene Epoch: period of time just before the present (the Holocene) during which continental ice covered much of North America about 2.5 million to 11,000 years before present.
Tennessee Marble: A large grained limestone with a pinkish-brown color. As a limestone, it often has visible fossils imbedded within. When new it has a distinct pinkish tinge, however, the stone weathers to a rough texture and becomes grayish in color. If you get up close, Tennessee Marble is easily distinguished from marble and limestone by its coarse texture and specks of pink grain.
Vernal Pool: A depression in the land that temporarily contains water for only parts of the year. They typically are filled by rainwater or melt water and are usually at their highest levels in the springtime. At Mount Auburn, Consecration Dell is a vernal pool.
Start your journey on Central Avenue at the Egyptian Revival Entrance Gatehouse. Walk forward until you come upon a “Ridge” on your left and turn onto it.
As you walk along this esker, and throughout the cemetery, try to find monuments made of Tennessee Marble- they often contain tiny fossils of prehistoric ocean animals and plant life.
When you come to the footbridge, stop and look down to your right at Auburn Lake- 1 of 3 kettle ponds found at the Cemetery. Cross the bridge and go to the end of the path. Stay to the right of the fork and turn right on Larch Avenue.
Walk a while until you get to Chestnut Avenue and turn left- you are now entering the land of the “Seven Hills”. You will come upon a giant Weeping Beech tree and further ahead is a hitching post that looks like a horse’s head- turn right onto the path in between these two points.
As you journey on this path, to your right is Temple Hill, to your left is Juniper Hill and even further down on your right is the third, Cedar Hill.
Eventually, you will come to a marble cross on the ground, turn left when you do. Halfway down this path on your left is a kame- this one is named for the “Crimson” owner of the lot at the top. Keep walking and when you come to the stone “house” of Henry Farnham turn right.
After a few paces, turn left and descend down a wooded path. At the log bench, look down into the valley on your right until you see a clearing with a body of water in it. This is Consecration Dell. It is a vernal pool and another kettle pond.
Continue until the path ends at a paved road called Walnut Avenue. Before you cross this road and turn left, look to your right and you’ll see Laurel Hill- hill number 5.
You’re almost there! Continue walking until you come to Bellwort Path and turn right. Keep walking down the path beyond where it turns to grass. When it becomes paved again, stop and turn right. You are looking for the large boulder next to a brownstone cross. However, to find the box, you need to look for the boulder across from here that has a shrub next to it.
Can you find the third kettle pond and hills six and seven?
Glossary
Esker: A long, snaking bar of sand and gravel, formed in a channel of melt water beneath a glacier
Ice Age: Prolonged period of cold during which masses of continental ice buildup and flow across large portions of the earth. There have been numerous ice ages and we are actually in a warm spell that is part of a current ice age.
Kame: A small but rather steep hill of layered glacial sediment.
Kettle Pond (or Kettle Hole): A bowl-shaped depression in an area of glacial deposits, left behind when a lump of buried ice melts.
Pleistocene Epoch: period of time just before the present (the Holocene) during which continental ice covered much of North America about 2.5 million to 11,000 years before present.
Tennessee Marble: A large grained limestone with a pinkish-brown color. As a limestone, it often has visible fossils imbedded within. When new it has a distinct pinkish tinge, however, the stone weathers to a rough texture and becomes grayish in color. If you get up close, Tennessee Marble is easily distinguished from marble and limestone by its coarse texture and specks of pink grain.
Vernal Pool: A depression in the land that temporarily contains water for only parts of the year. They typically are filled by rainwater or melt water and are usually at their highest levels in the springtime. At Mount Auburn, Consecration Dell is a vernal pool.